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LOS ANGELES, CA - NOVEMBER 04: Delon Wright #55 of the Toronto Raptors drives to the basket as he is chased by Ivica Zubac #40 and Josh Hart #3 of the Los Angeles Lakers at Staples Center on November 4, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)(Harry How / Getty Images)

Wright, 27, could well start this upcoming season, sharing a modest portion of Luka Doncic's ballhandling responsibilities and, thankfully for Dallas, most of the tougher backcourt defensive assignments.

As of Saturday night, indications were that the Mavericks intended to sign restricted free agent Wright to an offer sheet and force the Grizzlies to decide whether to match and keep him.

The sign-and-trade was a logical compromise for both franchises. The Mavericks received Wright on a three-year, $29 million deal and the Grizzlies, as compensation, got needed salary-cap relief and two future second-round picks from the Mavericks.

One week into the free agency, the Mavericks' additions are Wright, shooting guard Seth Curry and third-team center Boban Marjanovic - not the Big Fish landing or buzz-inducing splitting of aces fans envisioned, but not as bleak as it seemed after free agent target Danny Green chose the Lakers.

Saturday night, no doubt anticipating that his team would either sign Wright to an offer sheet or acquire him outright, owner Mark Cuban explained the Mavericks' altered free agency approach this summer, knowing they had Doncic and Porzingis around whom to build.

"We have two cornerstones now; that's the difference," he said. "Before we were searching and we really didn't have those guys.

"Now with KP and Luka, you always have to realize, Luka makes guys better. ... Some guys come in and put up numbers. Luka makes his teammates better. We'll see what happens with KP. We expect him to be really good too, you know?

"So with that as a foundation, it's a little bit different than previous years when it's like 'What are we going to do? Who are we going to get? What's going to happen?' We weren't as panicked as people on Twitter were."

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The Mavericks had their sights on Wright while the wait for Green's answer lasted well into the free agency period.

Wright began his career in Toronto, which made him the No. 20 pick of the 2015 draft. Though classified as a point guard, he is accustomed to playing alongside ball-dominant guards like Kyle Lowry and Fred VanVleet.

Traded to Memphis last spring in the deal that sent Marc Gasol to Toronto and Jonas Valanciunas to the Grizzlies, Wright made the most of his opportunity in Memphis.

He averaged 12.2 points and 5.3 assists and finished the season with three triple-doubles in the Grizzlies' last four games - with two of the triple-doubles coming against Dallas in back-to-back games.

Wright through most of his career has been a poor 3-point shooter (33%), but his potential pairing with Doncic would give Dallas a backcourt of 6-5 and 6-7 guards who average a combined 11.3 rebounds per game.

No, Dallas did not get Kemba Walker or Tobias Harris and round out a Big Three, but look around the NBA, after the Lakers' attempt to merge Kawhi Leonard with LeBron James and Anthony Davis backfired into Leonard and Paul George co-starring for the Clippers.

The NBA now is filled with numerous Big Twos, with Philadelphia's Harris-Joel Embiid-Ben Simmons troika being probably the closest there is to a Big Three.

The difference in Dallas' case is that it's potential Big Two, Porzingis and Doncic, are ages 23 and 20 and this season will make $27.2 million and $7.7 million, respectively.

James and Davis are 34 and 26 and will make $37.4 million and $27.1 million. George and Leonard are 29 and 28 and will make $33 million and $32.8 million. Golden State's Steph Curry and Klay Thompson are 31 and 29 and will make $40.2 million and $32.7 million, while new addition D'Angelo Russell will make $27.2 million.

The Sixers' Harris and Embiid are 27 and 25 and will make $31.0 million and $27.5 million. The Nets' Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving are 31 and 27 and will make $38.1 million and $32.7 million.

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Washington's John Wall and Bradley Beal, 29 and 26, will make $38.2 million and $27.1 million. The Blazers' Damian Lillard, 29, and C.J. McCollum, 28, have $29.8 million and $27.5 million salaries.

Last but certainly not least, especially in salary, Houston's 34-year-old Chris Paul and 30-year-old James Harden will make $38.5 million and $38.2 million next season.

Those Big Two salary loads are why the Rockets, as reported Sunday by ESPN, regard themselves as longshots to trade for Oklahoma City's Russell Westbrook.

"Now you've got two-for madness on a bunch of teams, and it's tougher to build around those situations," Cuban said. "You've got a lot of teams with $40 million players, and that's tougher to build a team around, unless those guys are out-performing their contracts.

"So, you know, it could be interesting to see how it all plays out.

"Which is fine. We think our duo is going to be pretty good. What people don't realize is we're really excited with what we have, and when guys move, there's a reason why they move, it's because they left the team they were already on. The emphasis, at least for us, is keeping our existing free agents."

Dallas structured multi-year extensions for Dwight Powell and Maxi Kleber and Dorian Finney-Smith. Once all the current agreed-to contracts have been signed, Dallas will have 14 players under contract, nine of them on contracts of three or more seasons.

For the first time since the 2011 championship team's breakup, the Mavericks should have - brace yourself - continuity.

But no "star" additions in this free agency period, unless you count Porzingis' five-year, $158 million deal, which the Mavericks certainly do.

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"NBA Twitter is hysterical," Cuban said. "It's like if Jerry Springer called up fans from different teams and they said, 'You, You, You did this! You promised me this and you said that!'

"It's humorous, but it's not reality. It's like, 'There was a rumor that you were supposed to get this guy and you didn't get that guy that you were rumored to get, so because you didn't get the guy you were rumored to be going after, you had a horrible free agency.'"

Now the Mavericks' additions, collectively, don't look as horrible. Cuban understands that respectable doesn't excite fans, but here's the potential good news:

No more Jerry Springer-like Twitter hysteria - at least not until next summer.

Brad Townsend, Mavericks beat reporter. Brad covers the Dallas Mavericks and the NBA. He has been a Dallas Morning News sports reporter since 1993. Prior to that he worked at The Houston Chronicle and San Antonio Light.